KINGSCOTE NEWPORT HOUSE TOUR | 1841 Gothic Revival Victorian Time Capsule Mansion

There's a Gothic Revival Victorian house in Newport, Rhode Island that stands as a true time capsule, with more than a century of one family's original collections and belongings still preserved inside. Welcome to King's Coat, one of Newport's earliest summer cottages built in 1841. Over more than a century, the house evolved alongside the family who called it home. Blending romantic Gothic Revival architecture with aesthetic movement design, global influences, intricate craftsmanship, and the eclectic tastes of the late Victorian era. And when the final owner died, King's Coat and all of its contents were left together to the Preservation Society of Newport County, preserving an extraordinary collection of furniture, artwork, books, photographs, and personal pieces within the home itself. Today, we're touring this remarkable Newport mansion room by room to uncover the original interiors, family collections, and fascinating stories that make King's Coat such an extraordinary window into Newport's Victorian and Gilded Age past. Hi, I'm Allie, and welcome back to Fab Little Dish, where we celebrate vintage homes, historic interiors, and the stories that keep these places alive. If you love the stories these houses share, give this video a thumbs up and hit subscribe. It really helps support preservation and awareness efforts for these beautiful pieces of our history. Now let's head back to Newport, Rhode Island to explore this Victorian time capsule together. The story of King's Coat begins in 1839 with George Noble Jones, a wealthy southern plantation owner who commissioned the house as a summer retreat right here in Newport. And while we're going to admire a lot of the beauty inside of this home, it's important to acknowledge where some of that early wealth came from that actually built this home. Jones was an enslaver whose fortune was deeply tied to plantation agriculture and the Records from his Florida plantations document that the men, women, and children held in slavery there, an important part of King's Coat's history that shouldn't be separated from the house we see today. When the Civil War began in 1861, the Jones family left Newport and never returned. In 1863, King's Coat was purchased by William Henry King, a wealthy Newport merchant who made his fortune in the China trade. But just a few years later, after experiencing a serious mental health crisis, William was institutionalized and his nephew David King Jr. became an important steward of the property. David eventually began spending his summers here with his wife Ella and their children, and this is really where King's Coat becomes the family home that we recognize today. David and Ella traveled extensively, surrounded themselves with art and beautiful objects, and transformed portions of the house to reflect their own changing tastes, something we'll see much more of as we move through the interiors. King's Coat would remain with the extended King, Armstrong, and Rives family for more than a century. Generations were born here, married here, spent their summers here, and continued filling the rooms with furniture, artwork, books, photographs, and personal belongings. And thankfully, much of it never left. When the final private owner died in 1972, King's Coat and all of its contents were left to the Preservation Society of Newport County, and that's what makes this home such an incredible time capsule today. We're seeing family collections that accumulated here across generations, still preserved inside the house where they were actually used by the families themselves. And as the family evolved, King's Coat evolved right along with them. Built between 1839 and 1841, the original house was designed by architect Richard Upjohn as a romantic summer retreat for George Noble Jones. Upjohn was one of the leading architects of the Gothic Revival movement in America at the time, and would later become the first president of the American Institute of Architects. He designed King's Coat as what was known as a cottage ornée, or ornamental cottage, a picturesque style meant to feel romantic, fanciful, and closely connected to the landscape. And you can see the Gothic Revival influences everywhere. The pointed arches, diamond-painted windows, towers, elaborate hood moldings over the windows and doors, steep gables, decorative woodwork, and irregular roofline were all inspired by medieval architecture. Even these wonderful porch roofs were designed to resemble the tents used at medieval tournaments. So rather than the enormous marble palaces that Newport would later become famous for, King's Coat was meant to feel almost whimsical, like a romantic country cottage pulled from another time. Once the King family took over, they eventually renamed the house King's Coat, which meant King's Cottage, and began adding their own layers to Upjohn's original design. King's Coat continued to change with every generation who lived here, while still preserving so much of Upjohn's original Gothic Revival vision nearly two centuries later. Stepping into the foyer, the Gothic Revival details continue almost immediately. The dark woodwork, pointed arches, stained glass, and that Upjohn carried throughout the original house. Even the front doors have this strong Tudor-style arch that immediately sets the tone for what's inside. The National Historic Landmark documentation specifically notes the pointed arches, clustered columns, carved staircase, and Gothic paneling as surviving features of the original interior. So right from the entrance, we're already seeing two layers of this house, Upjohn's romantic Gothic architecture, and the influence brought here by the family who would preserve King's Coat for generations to come. This intimate office was really designed as a space for receiving guests, and almost everything around us reflects the King family's wealth, travels, and international connections. David King, like his uncle William, made his fortune in the China trade and worked for Russell & Company, one of the most powerful American trading firms operating in China at the time. The family imported sought-after goods like tea and silk, and their travels and business connections are reflected throughout King's Coat, and the artwork, furniture, and decorative objects they collected. But there's also a darker side to that wealth as well. Russell & Company was also deeply involved in the opium trade, a highly profitable business that caused enormous harm in China. So, just like the plantation wealth behind King's Coat's original owner, the beauty and see inside this house came from a much more complicated history. David and his wife Ella began spending their summers here in the 1870s, and as they made their house their own, King's Coat became filled with objects and influences gathered from both China and their extensive travels through Europe. But we cannot forget the dark parts of how the wealth was formed to create this home. Their wealth and connections to the China trade brought an incredible collection of Asian art and furnishings into this home. And that mix of cultures and collecting is something we're going to see become even more dramatic as we move through the house. This cozy library actually began as King's Coat's original dining room during the Jones era, before the King family transformed it into the library we see today. And so much of what fills this room reflects the family's connections to China. The paintings, blue and white ceramics, and decorative objects were collected through the King's travels and business overseas, and many remain part of King's Coat's original family collection today. The Preservation Society describes the house as remarkably intact with those original collections still in place where the families actually left them. One of the most interesting paintings shows Canton Harbor and the foreign trading district where William Henry King conducted business, while smaller views around the room depict other places throughout China, almost creating a visual record of the world that helped build the King family fortune. And I just love the souvenirs that are all displayed not only throughout this library, but in the entire home, because it really shows just how much travel inspired the family who lived here, and the impact that traveling had on the way they chose to style the interior of King's Coat. These pieces give such a true glimpse into the people who called this place home. But this room also shows us just how dramatically King's Coat was changing by the 1880s. As Newport summer homes became larger and entertaining became increasingly elaborate, David and Ella wanted a grander dining room of their own, and their solution was pretty incredible. Rather than simply building onto the back of the house, architect Stanford White moved the existing service wing about 40 feet away, creating enough space to insert an entirely new dining room between it and this original part of King's Coat. And that new room became one of the most extraordinary spaces in the entire house, which we're about to see. And this is the dining room. This extraordinary space became a showcase for some of the most innovative interior design elements of the era. When David and Ella King wanted a space better suited for Gilded Age entertaining, they hired the young firm of McKinn, Mead & White in 1880 to transform this part of the house. And walking in here from the much smaller, darker library changes the entire mood dramatically. The room was designed during the height of the aesthetic movement, when interiors were becoming less about everything needing a practical purpose, and more about surrounding yourself with beautiful objects, interesting textures, and craftsmanship simply because they were beautiful. And there is just so much to take and look at in here. The entire west wall glows with 1,459 opalescent glass bricks by Louis Comfort Tiffany, the first known installation of Tiffany's glass bricks. Each one originally cost the Kings just 25 cents, but together they created this luminous, mosaic-like effect that would have felt incredibly modern at the time in 1881. Above the windows are these beautiful stained glass transforms decorated with dahlias, and that same flower motif appears again in the hammered brass light fixtures around the room, so even the smallest details were designed to work together in a beautiful way. And the ceiling here is actually covered in cork, laid in this decorative pattern not only for its warm color and texture, but because the material helped absorb sound, making conversations around the dinner table feel more intimate. The room also mixes all of this forward-thinking design with a growing fascination for colonial American style. The built-in mahogany sideboard, dark wood paneling reflect that nostalgia for an earlier America. Even the black walnut screen separating the dining room from the hall was carefully designed by Stanford White. It could actually be dismantled when the family needed more room for a party, while its open spindle works still allowed summer air to circulate through the space. And there are also reminders of the King family's international world everywhere. Near the fireplace is a 17th century Chinese temple bell, positioned alongside American furniture, European influences, and that Tiffany glass, which really captures how McKim, Mead, and White blended Eastern and Western designs throughout this room. And that bell was actually used to call people for dinner, so it was actually something that wasn't just used for the aesthetics. The family used this room for intimate but very fashionable dinners, entertaining people from Newport and beyond, including members of the Astor family and even a young Edith Wharton, whose home we visited in last week's historic house tour. So this room really brings everything about Kingscoat together. The family's global travels, their Newport roots and connections, gilded age entertaining, and some incredibly forward-thinking American interior design ideas. It was designed to be an entire experience, and that is what makes this one of the most extraordinary rooms inside Kingscoat. This dining room truly took my breath away, and every inch of it feels intentional, from the glowing glass and the rich woodwork to the unusual textures and decorative details layered throughout the space. The longer you look, the more incredible details you start to notice. This cozy little sitting room actually began as Kingscoat's original library, part of Richard Upjohn's 1840s design. After the 1880s renovation gave the family the larger library that we just saw, this older space gradually took on a more informal role as a sitting room. And like so many rooms at Kingscoat, it's filled with objects collected during the family's travels, giving it that wonderfully layered, lived-in feeling that makes the house feel so personal and alive. Including this ornate teak chair inlaid with marble and mother-of-pearl, along with the large porcelain vase, pieces David King Jr. acquired during his time in China. The parlor was one of Kingscoat's main spaces for family gatherings and entertaining, and so much of what we see here reflects the way David and Ella King redecorated the house in the late 19th century. The wallpaper and furnishings came from prominent New York decorators, and the room is filled with pieces from the family collection that remained here as Kingscoat passed down through generations. David and Ella were also using fashionable designers like Léon Marcotte and William Morris during this period, bringing some of the latest ideas in interior design directly into this Newport home. And I love how adaptable these rooms were. The pocket doors right here could close to separate the parlor from the adjoining drawing room for those quieter moments like reading, having some tea, or playing some family games with each other. But for larger gatherings, everything could be opened up into one flowing entertaining space. Even the tall windows were actually doors leading directly onto the veranda, allowing that cool Newport ocean air to move through the entire house. And this room might look familiar to any HBO's The Gilded Age fans. Kingscoat became the Newport home of wealthy widow Susan Blain in HBO's The Gilded Age, where young architect Larry Russell is hired to renovate her supposedly outdated home, and eventually begins an affair with her. Several scenes were filmed right here in Kingscoat's connected parlors, and filming a television show inside of a house this intact was no small undertaking. The Preservation Society had to remove furniture and decorative objects from these rooms for filming, which is kind of incredible when you realize that normally, Kingscoat is always filled with the family's things. Even small details were carefully managed for the production, including setting the clocks to match the time portrayed in each scene. So ironically, filming The Gilded Age temporarily gave the preservation team a sight they had almost never seen themselves. Kingscoat without generations of the King family's belongings filling the rooms. They said it looked unrecognizable and couldn't wait to get everything back in place once the filming crews left. Moving into the drawing room, the mood shifts again. Ella redecorated the space in the late 19th century to feel more like a French salon. Originally covering the walls in French watered silk and filling the rooms with elegant Louis XV style furnishings. But like so many rooms at Kingscoat, what we see today reflects more than one generation of the family. The ornate white marble fireplace was actually added later by Ella's daughter Gwendolyn, who brought it here from a family townhouse in New York because of its Rococo revival design. It worked so beautifully with the French character of the room. And mixed among all of that European influence are more reminders of David King's years in China, including the carved teakwood screen covered in embroidered silk, the intricate wooden shrine, and porcelain collected during his travels. So this room really becomes another example of what makes Kingscoat such an interesting time capsule. Chinese art mixed with French inspired decor, Victorian interiors, and objects brought here by different generations all layered together. After dinner, guests gathered here for music, conversation, games, and charades. The drawing room became the stage while the adjoining parlor was turned into audience seating and the doors between the two rooms became the theater curtain. So they actually acted out scenes here too. What a fun little space this must have been. This is also an important room in Gwendolyn King's own social life. She made her society debut in Newport in 1896 and just five years later she married Edward Maitland Armstrong right here at Kingscoat in 1901, with the house once again becoming the setting for one of the family's biggest celebrations. Upstairs, this central hall connects many of Kingscoat's more private family spaces. The bedrooms, dressing rooms, and bathrooms were daily life unfolded away from the formal entertaining spaces downstairs. And I just love this curved bookcase built directly into the wall. It's filled with generations of books and it's paired with this tall case clock beside it, making the hallway feel collected and lived in rather than just a simple passage from one room to the next. It's another small detail that makes Kingscoat feel so much like a true family home with original belongings worked into nearly every corner. And here we are in the summer bedroom. This light-filled room belonged to David and Ella King and it gives us a much more personal glimpse into their life here at Kingscoat. Ella was an accomplished horsewoman and the painting along the fireplace shows her riding side saddle along the beach, a fitting portrait for a woman who clearly loved being outdoors. Even the way the room was arranged reflects Newport summers. The sheer curtains hang slightly in front of the windows so the interior shutters could fold back easily, allowing the windows to open and catch as much of that cool ocean breeze as possible. David and Ella had two children but in 1894 David died suddenly at just 54 years old. After his death, Ella continued spending summers here and eventually fought to keep Kingscoat within the family, purchasing the house outright from William Henry King's many heirs in 1900. And you can also see signs of how Ella's life changed after losing her husband. The religious images surrounding the room reflect her growing connection to Catholicism, including the image of the Virgin Mary and Christ above the bed. The family archives still preserve a large collection of Catholic devotional pieces associated with Ella and later generations of the family. So while the rooms downstairs tell us so much about entertaining and social status, this bedroom feels much more personal. A quiet glimpse into Ella's life, her interests, and the years she spent preserving Kingscoat for the generations who would come after her. This was Gwendolyn King's bedroom and it gives us a glimpse into the surprisingly independent young woman who grew up here at Kingscoat. Gwendolyn was actually born in this house in 1876 and was educated primarily at home by private tutors studying everything from literature and art to French, German, and violin. Like her mother Ella, she loved horseback riding but while traveling with the family in Brittany, France, Gwendolyn discovered something a little more daring for a young woman of her generation, the bicycle. Cycling was still controversial for women in the 1890s, partly because riding safely often meant abandoning those long Victorian skirts for divided skirts or even bloomers, exposing far more of a woman's legs than polite society was used to seeing at the time. So I love that this seemingly delicate Victorian bedroom belonged to someone who was actually embracing something a little scandalous for women at the time. Following her father's death, both Gwendolyn and her mother became increasingly devoted to Catholicism and her connection to Kingscoat would last for the rest of her life. After she was widowed in 1915, Gwendolyn eventually returned here permanently in 1929 and when the city of Newport later proposed demolishing Kingscoat and neighboring properties for a new high school in she helped fight to save it. The city ultimately chose another location, thank goodness. So in a very real way, one of the young girls who grew up inside this bedroom would eventually help ensure that Kingscoat would remain standing for us all to experience today. Just off Gwendolyn's bedroom is this smaller room, originally used as her dressing room, a private space where she could prepare for the different activities and social occasions that shaped daily life here at Kingscoat. Over the years, it evolved into an upstairs sitting room between Gwendolyn's bedroom and her mother Ella's, another little example of how the house continued changing alongside the family who lived here. Today the room is filled with family photographs, dressers, a long mirror, and several equestrian images, a sweet reminder of the love of horses that Gwendolyn and her mother shared together. This guest bedroom is actually part of above the new dining room that we toured earlier. And one of my favorite original details in here is the fireplace. Designed by Stanford White himself, it has never been altered, giving us an incredibly intact piece of the 1881 renovation. And there's another detail in this room that can be easily missed. Just beside the mirror dressing table is a hidden doorway, disguised to blend into the wall. It connected directly to the service side of the house, allowing staff to enter the guest room discreetly without having to come through the main family hallway. It's such a clever little reminder that behind these beautiful Victorian interiors was an entire secondary circulation system designed around the people working to keep the house moving and running. And even upstairs, McKim, Mead, and White continued some of Kingscoat's gothic character, using medieval inspired hood moldings over the second floor doorways, so the newer addition still felt connected to Richard Upjohn's original designs. So although this room feels much lighter and quieter than the dramatic dining room below, it's still full of those carefully considered architectural details, many of them remarkably unchanged for nearly 150 years. This was Gwendolyn's winter bedroom. Once the winter sanctuary of Gwendolyn King, this room shows Kingscoat's transformation from a fashionable summer cottage into a permanent year-round residence. Archival records note that Gwendolyn moved into the estate full-time in 1929, and radiators were added to help combat those cold Rhode Island winters, working alongside the original fireplace, while allowing Gwendolyn to live here much more comfortably throughout the year. But despite those modern updates, the room still feels incredibly personal and almost frozen in time. The pink canopy bed, floral wallpaper, matching upholstered chairs, family photographs, artwork, and objects collected over generations give the space this romantic and wonderfully layered feeling. It really shows the room as it continued to evolve naturally as the same family lived here year after year. And I think that's one of the things I love most about Kingscoat, is that the family adapted the house as their lives changed, but they rarely erased what came before them, allowing generations of Victorian design, family history, and personal belongings to remain layered together inside these rooms. And that's what makes Kingscoat such an incredible time capsule that we're able to walk through today. You can almost picture Gwendolyn spending a winter evening here beside the fire, knitting, reading, writing letters to friends, or thinking about the future of the home that she cared so deeply about preserving. And just off the bedroom is this adjoining bathroom, another reminder that Kingscoat continued evolving as the family's needs changed. By the time Gwendolyn was living here, year round, modern plumbing and heating had become part of daily life. But the room still has beautiful vintage touches with its freestanding tub, tiled floor, and personal grooming items that are just left here for display, really making everything feel lived in with a vintage feel. And I love that even a practical space like this still feels very connected to the family and incredibly personal. This smaller bedroom, known as the Pink Bedroom, sits within Richard Upjohn's original section of Kingscoat and was often used by Gwendolyn's daughter, who was also named Gwendolyn, but known within the family as Gwennie. Like her mother, Gwennie traveled extensively and the artwork and photographs throughout the room reflect some of the places that she encountered along the way. After her husband died in 1964, Gwennie returned to Newport and moved back into Kingscoat with her mother. And in their later years, these two women became deeply invested in protecting the house and preserving their family history. Gwendolyn died in 1968 and Gwennie remained here until her own death just about four years later. And this is where Kingscoat's time capsule story really comes full circle. In 1972, Gwennie left Kingscoat and its contents to the Preservation Society of Newport County. But just as important, generations of family papers, photographs, diaries, correspondences, and records survived as well. Helping historians understand not only what these rooms looked like, but how the people inside them actually lived and used them. And I think there's something really meaningful and powerful about the fact that the final chapter of Kingscoat's story was shaped so strongly by women who understood the importance of preserving the past. Because without them, we wouldn't have this beautiful home to walk through. We also would have lost the family belongings, stories, photographs, and personal history that make Kingscoat feel so remarkably alive still today. Allowing future generations to learn from the past simply by walking through each room here. And surrounding the fireplace are these beautiful original 19th century Dutch Delft tiles. Another one of those small historic details that makes you want to just stop and take a little closer look. The school room was used by generations of the King family for lessons, reading, and plenty of playtime in between. And so much of that childhood world still survives here today. The smaller scale of furnishings immediately tells you that this was a room created for children. Gwendolyn was educated here at home by private tutors, while her brother Philip spent more of his school years away at boarding school. And remarkably, pieces connected to their education still survive in here, including Gwendolyn's own composition books from 1886 and 1887, written when she was only about 10 or 11 years old. The shelves are still packed with family storybooks, songbooks, and volumes collected during their travels abroad. While a 19th century hobby horse and shaker rocking chair make the room still feel alive, like the children just stepped away. Those pointed gothic windows and diamond patterned panes bring Richard Upright's romantic gothic revival designs all the way into the children's spaces as well, giving this little school room such a whimsical, almost storybook-like feeling. It's one of these rooms where Kingscote's time capsule energy really hits you in the face, because we're not just seeing where these children learned and grew up, we're also surrounded by the books, toys, and objects that were actually part of their everyday lives. Kingscote is one of those houses where you can actually see generations of What began as an 1841 gothic revival summer cottage evolved over more than a century, shaped by changing tastes, changing fortunes, and the people who called it home. And because so much survived together here, the furniture, decor, artwork, books, photographs, and personal belongings were able to experience that history in an incredible intimate way. Nearly two centuries later, Kingscote still feels remarkably connected to the people who lived here, making it one of Newport's most fascinating Victorian time capsules. Let me know in the comments what inspired you the most from today's tour. The gothic architecture, the preserved interiors, or was it that incredible dining room? I always love hearing what you all think about these incredible tours I take you on each week. And make sure to hit thumbs up because it really does help this video get in front of new faces, which continues to inspire me to create more of these videos. And make sure to also subscribe because I have a whole bunch more amazing historic house tours coming your way that you're not going to want to miss out. And as always, thank you so much for taking a step back in time with me today and for watching this amazing tour of Kingscote and Newport, Rhode Island. Until next week, my friends, keep enjoying the beauty of vintage home. Au revoir!